The invention relates generally to ink cartridges for ink jet printers, and in particular to an ink cartridge that includes a means for visibly identifying the ink supply in the cartridge such as by color or type.
The cross-referenced applications filed August 16, 2001 disclose an ink cartridge that includes a means for visibly identifying the ink supply in the cartridge such as by color or type.
The disclosed cartridge includes an ink bag containing an ink supply, an ink egress snout attached to the ink bag and from which the ink supply is discharged from the ink bag, and a split collar that receives or mates with the snout via an annular rib on the collar and an annular groove on the snout. The collar when mated with the snout can be rotated about the snout to any one of a number of allowable orientations. The particular orientation of the collar that is selected serves to identify the ink supply in the ink bag.
A pair of housing halves for the ink bag when connected together form a bottom opening for the collar. The bottom opening is bounded by multisided edges of the housing halves. The collar has a peripheral recess with a multisided floor that complements the multi-sided edges. This permits the collar when arranged in any one of the orientations to be trapped in the bottom opening to prevent rotation of the collar relative to the snout. Moreover, it serves to secure the bag to the housing halves.
According to one aspect of the invention, an ink cartridge comprising an ink egress snout from which an ink supply is discharged from the ink cartridge, and a collar that mates with the snout and can be arranged in any one of a number of allowable orientations to provide an identification of the ink supply, is characterized in that:
the snout and the collar are mutually configured to permit the collar to mate with the snout only when the collar is in any one of the orientations, whereby an identification of the ink supply can be provided simply by the collar mating with the snout.
According to another aspect of the invention, a method of partially assembling an ink cartridge including an ink egress snout and a collar that are mutually configured to permit the collar to mate with the snout only when the collar is in any one of a number of allowable orientations, comprises:
aligning the collar and the snout to position the collar relative to the snout in a selected one of the orientations: and
mating the collar with the snout in the selected one of the orientations, whereby an identification of an ink supply can be provided.